Ramzan Kadyrov, son of assassinated Chechen leader Akhmad Kadyrov, at his father’s funeral in the village of Tsentoroy. (AFP)

Moscow, May 10 (Reuters): The leader of Russia’s restive Chechnya region was buried today, the day after an assassination that shook President Vladimir Putin’s plans to tame rebellion he sees as a threat to the fabric of his country.

Thousands of mourners attended the funeral of President Akhmad Kadyrov, an ex-Muslim cleric central to Putin’s bid to pacify mainly Muslim Chechnya but viewed by rebels as a traitor.

Security appeared tight at the ceremony at his home village, Tsentoroi. Kadyrov was killed with six others by a bomb blast at a World War Two victory ceremony in a stadium in the regional capital Grozny yesterday. The bomb was planted under the VIP stand where top Russian and Chechen officials had gathered.

Kadyrov, 52, once a leading figure among the separatists, ruled Chechnya with an iron fist and was increasingly taking over powers from his Kremlin masters, negotiating with moderate rebels and suppressing opposition among rival clans.

As mourners flooded tightly guarded roads to attend the funeral in Tsentoroi some 50 km from Grozny, Russian officials insisted the security situation was under control.

Television pictures showed heads of neighbouring Russian regions and many Chechen dignitaries at a mourning ceremony, but Moscow sent no senior officials to attend it.

Russian and Chechen officials blamed rebels for the assassination. But rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov, in an interview with rebel news agency Chechenpress, denied involvement. Russian news agencies quoted investigators as saying they were still trying to determine how a bomb could be planted in the tight-security VIP area and who triggered the explosion.

Deputy prosecutor general Sergei Fridinsky denied media reports yesterday about first arrests. He told Interfax news agency: “No one was officially arrested and there are still no suspects in the case.”

“In general the situation in the republic is under the control of law-enforcement bodies and federal forces,” Interfax quoted the newly appointed Russian commander in Chechnya Colonel-General Mikhail Pankov as saying. Pankov’s predecessor, Colonel-General Valery Baranov, was badly injured.

Despite confident noises from officials the situation looked bleak for Putin’s plans to establish an effective authority there that would eventually snuff out the separatist rebellion.

“Kadyrov’s death has left a political vacuum in Chechnya,” Russian parliamentary deputy Ramazan Abdulatipov said.

The defection of Kadyrov from the rebel cause was a coup for Putin, who sent troops in 1999 to end short-lived independence.

Kadyrov’s moves to get rid of power rivals with Moscow’s heavy-handed help devastated Chechnya’s political landscape, leaving few potential successors of quality for Putin to choose.

Two hours after Kadyrov’s death, Putin met his son Ramzan in Moscow, fuelling rumours the head of Kadyrov’s security forces — accused of involvement in human rights violations — could be handed the hot job. These rumours strengthened today when Ramzan was appointed first deputy head of the regional government. Reuters journalist Adlan Khasanov was buried today a day after being killed in the bomb attack. Khasanov was laid to rest in at a cemetery in Novye Atagi, his home village.